Raintree Systems, Inc.

RAINTREE

EMR - ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS

Revised 8/21/2009

Raintree Systems Inc.27307 Via Industria Temecula, CA 92590 Tel: 951-252-9400 Fax: 951-252-9401

www.raintreeinc.com

EMR - ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS

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Electronic Medical RecordsElectronic Medical Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Control Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3EMR RTF Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3User-defined Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Version Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Sign-Offs / Electronic Signatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

EMR Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Templates Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Editor Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Shortcuts Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Save Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

EMR TablesEMR Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Add an EMR Category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7EMR Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Add an EMR Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8EMR Lists Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10EMR ListsEMR Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Add EMR List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11EMR List Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Index Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Order and Limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

EMR List Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Editing columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14EMR Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15EMR Form Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17EMR Custom Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

EMR List Filters and Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

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Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Using Custom Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Filter Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Conditionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

EMR List Tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Interactive List Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Printing Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23RTF Table Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Graph Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24List Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Using EMR Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Using an EMR List in a Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Using an EMR List in a Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Using an EMR List from a Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Using an EMR List in a Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Template EditorNotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Including the Value in the Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Note Collections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Defining Collections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Collection Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Narratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Using the Narrative Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Set Up the Narrative Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Insert the Field Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Insert the Merge Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

AdvancedEMR Template Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Inserting Custom Screen Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

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ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS

ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS

OVERVIEW

EMR records provide a HIPAA-compliant means of tracking clinical documentation with full rich-text formatting support.In addition to built-in fields defined for each record, it is a simple matter to assign custom fields and screens for any EMRthrough the use of EMR templates. In addition, EMR records can trigger scripts that display built-in or customized screens,run reports, send email messages, schedule appointments, add charges to the ledger, or perform any other task that canbe accomplished via formscript.

Each EMR record contains several components:

• Control fields• An attached rich-text format (RTF) document• User-defined attached custom fields

CONTROL FIELDS

Control Fields are used for tracking the "housekeeping" details of an EMR document, such as when the document wascreated or the client. Not all of the fields are visible in the built-in EMR record.

EMR RTF DOCUMENTS

Each EMR record contains an attached rich-text format (RTF) document. This document may be blank, or might containmerged text variables. This is a printable document which would be considered the final document for some process,such as a Progress Note, or a Treatment Plan. The RTF Documents for each EMR record are stored as BLOB fields withinthe core EMR table.

Note: you can also use a Raintree Overlay document (RTO) as the EMR's document instead of the standard RTFdocument.

USER-DEFINED FIELDS

EMR templates allow users to define and attach custom fields to the built-in EMR table for various documents. Someexamples are:

• Types of medications• The Client's ZIP Code on the date of signing• A numerical score representing the client's mood on the date of an assessment.• A scanned image of an insurance card• An attached email received from another agency• The client's self-pay balance on the date of service• An audio recording containing the dictated content of an assessment.• The number of the service ticket attached to a progress note.

Any information that can be stored in Raintree can also be attached to an EMR.

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VERSION CONTROL

EMR documents contain support for document versions, also known as amendments. The entire amendment historyfor a document is available within the system, and there is no practical limit for the number of times a document can beamended, nor the type of changes which can be made to an EMR document.

SIGN-OFFS / ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES

Raintree supports adding electronic signatures to EMR records. When a user signs off a document, she is prompted forher Raintree password. Once the password is successfully given, the EMR record and its attached RTF document becomesread-only; a signed-off progress note, for example, can never be altered. Note that you can still amend the record, whilekeeping the original intact.

EMR EDITOR

OVERVIEW

The EMR Editor is an enhanced version of the RTF Editor. It allows you to access and modify the EMR narratives.

There are four areas of interest:

• the EMR templates pane (on the left)• the Editor pane (large area in the middle)• the Shortcuts section (on the right)• the Save buttons (in the bottom right corner of the window)

TEMPLATES PANE

The Templates pane contains a list of nested folders containing EMR templates. The folder tree is defined by the EMRCategories. Each folder can contain other folders and EMR templates. To view the items stored in each folder, click theplus sign (+) to the left or double-click on the folder name or icon to expand the folder. Double-clicking on any templatewithin these folders will "run" the template. Depending on how the selected template was designed, this could insert textinto the Editor Frame, run a formscript, prompt the user to select items from a list, display a popup window, or do prettymuch anything Raintree can do. Templates appear in the list with a red checkmark to the left, followed by the templatedescription and the code in parentheses.

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You can also select a template to run by typing the code for that template into the "Run" field at the bottom of thetemplates frame and pressing Enter. For a deeply-nested template, this can be much faster than expanding out eachfolder to find the desired template.

For example, to run the Green Lien template above, type CAWC2 in the "Run" field and press Enter.

To show Templates pane, press Alt+L or open the Tools menu and select EMR Templates. To hide it, click the "X" inthe top right corner of the Templates pane.

EDITOR PANE

The Editor pane is the main editing area of the EMR template. This is where the RTF document can be directly accessedand updated. All formatting commands that are available in the RTF Editor can be used here.

Sections

EMR documents can contain "sections," defined by the templates used for creating the EMR documents. In the exampleshown above, the Discharge Note being edited contains six sections, only the first two of which are visible in thescreenshot: "Subjective", "Objective", "Assessment", "Goals", "Plan", and "Activities List". These sections were definedin the EMR template used to create the sample Discharge Note document. Note that section headers do not need to beformatted exactly as the sample ones appear.

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One important use of sections within an EMR document is that they can be related to other EMR Templates. You can setthe sections up so that any text attached to templates located under a specific folder would be inserted into a specificsection of the EMR document.

Tabs

In the above image there are six tabs at the top of the Editor pane. These tabs correspond to the section headings in thedocument. When you click a tab, the cursor is moved to the beginning of that section and the document is scrolled todisplay that section. This can be helpful for jumping to a specific point within a very long document with many sectionsand sub-sections, such as an assessment. These tabs are defined in the narrative for the EMR template.

Tabs can also be designed which run EMR templates, just as if a user had selected a template from the Templates pane.For more information see EMR Template Commands.

SHORTCUTS PANE

This pane is visible only if shortcuts have been defined in the EMR docuemnt's narrative. Each shortcut will be displayedas a button with a red checkmark. Clicking a shortcut button runs a template attached to that button.

Note that this pane is not visible when viewing a signed-off EMR record.

SAVE BUTTONS

If the EMR has not been signed off, two buttons appear in the bottom rigt corner of the EMR Editor.

The Save and Sign Off button is used to close the EMR editor and begin the sign-off process. When you click this button,you are prompted for your password; if the password is entered correctly, the document is signed off and becomes read-only. A signed-off document cannot be edited - if any changes are required, they must be made in amendments of thedocument.

The Save and Exit button is used to save changes to the EMR document when work is still in progress. If this button isused to save and close the editor, the EMR document will not be made read-only.

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EMR TABLES

EMR CATEGORIES

All EMR templates must belong to a category. Categories are tree-structured, meaning that you can define child categoriesthat are linked to a parent category.

To open the EMR categories table:

1. From the main menu - press T for Tables.2. Press M for More.3. Press E for EMR.4. Press C for EMR Categories.

The existing EMR categories are displayed. For child categories, the name of their parent category is also displayed inthe Parent column.

You can nest categories within categories many times for multiple levels of nesting. Keep in mind, however, that this canbecome less useful when a user has to click through many levels of folders to find a template.

ADD AN EMR CATEGORY

To add a new category:

1. Press A.2. Type a code for the category.3. Specify parent category to create a linked child category or leave blank to create a parent category.4. Type a description.5. Press F10 to save.

EMR TEMPLATES

EMR templates are a mechanism to organize and capture database information. The templates are located in the %docpath% and are in the format <code>.nar Templates can be assigned to different categories. You can link to a

script, custom screen, or menu; also, you can specify a script for sign off of complex procedures.

To open the EMR templates table:

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1. From the main menu - press T for Tables.2. Press M for More.3. Press E for EMR.4. Press T for EMR Templates.

The existing EMR templates are displayed. The Category column shows the category for the selected template. in theLink column is displayed the linked item - for custom screens, the respective code; for scripts or menus, the specifiedfile.

You can add and edit templates here.

ADD AN EMR TEMPLATE

To create an EMR template:

1. Open the EMR Templates Table.2. Press A to Add.3. Type a code for the template.4. Select the EMR category.5. Type the template description.6. (Optional) Link the template to a script, custom screen or menu.

• To link a script, type the filename with the path, for example scripts\cust.frm.• To link a menu, type the menu name with the extension.• To link a custom screen, type the screen's code.

The button next to the field lets you define a parent EMR template (controlled by PHP). The current templatewill then extend that one, meaning that all fields on this screen will populate with the values from the parentEMR, unless you have already edited them manually. The RTM and narrative of the parent will also be copiedwith the new code.

7. If you want to define a special script or template to handle the sign off procedure, type its filename with thepath or press Tab to select an EMR template. The template will be merged into the main document after signoff.

8. Specify how additional items are appended (this is used when combining multiple EMRs):

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• A - Append - the text is inserted as normal.• N - Next line - after the inserted text, a line break is added. This is the default option.• S - Skip line - after the inserted text, an empty line is added.

9. If the data for your EMR template will be stored in its own custom data file/table, enter the name of that customfile in the Custom data file field. As an example, a screen that tracks allergies might be put in the custom fileALLER. A treatment plan template might store some data (such as severity of physical symptoms) in the TXPLANdata file. Not all templates will need a Custom Data File, just templates that will store extra data.

10. If the template will be added frequently for a particular patient, you may want to change the Note roll forwardaction.

• Do not roll forward - when a new record of this type is added for a patient, all custom data fields (if any)will be blank. This is the default selection for a new EMR template.

• Always roll forward - when a new record using this template is added for a patient, the custom data valuesin the new record are pre-filled with the data from the most recent EMR record with the same template.

• Ask for action to take - when a new record using this template is added for a patient, you will be promptedwhether the template should be pre-filled with the previous record's data.

11. To determine whether the EMR editor should be displayed after the setup screen is completed (or the linkedformscript or input form is run), select the Editor action:

• Always show editor - after saving the setup screen (or after the linked formscript has run), the EMR templateis merged into an RTF document and the EMR editor is displayed. This is the default selection.

• Show editor in read only mode - the EMR template is merged, but the document is displayed as read-only.If the Include Save and Sign Off button is selected, you can sign off the EMR from the editor.

• Do not show editor - the editor will not be displayed. This can be used for EMRs that will be included in listsor other EMR templates, but never merged by themselves.

12. If you edit an EMR that has not been signed off, the narrative will be re-merged into the RTF document. Thiswill overwrite any changes that were made to the RTF. To prompt you before overwriting changes, select theAsk before overwriting an existing record option. This is selected by default.

13. If the template does not have a narrative associated with it, select the Without narrative checkbox.14. If the template does not need to be signed off, select the Does Not Require Signoff checkbox.15. You can also edit the template text here. To do that, click the Edit template button.16. Press F10 to save.

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EMR LISTS TABLE

This table contains all EMR Lists you have defined. For each list, its name and description are displayed.

To open this table:

1. From the main menu - press T for Tables.2. Press M for More.3. Press E for EMR.4. Press L for EMR Lists.

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EMR LISTS

EMR LISTS

EMR Lists are a way to define filtered interactive lists of EMR records without requiring any custom programming. Theselists can be used as stand-alone table views ("live lists") linked from a menu option or drop-down field in a custom screen,as embedded lists or graphs within a screen (such as a dashboard), or as an insertable RTF table that can be insertedinto any EMR document. EMR lists can be very simple or very complex. You can add and edit EMR lists in the EMR ListsTable.

EMR Lists are stored in the scriptpath as <code>.lst; for example, the VITAL list is stored in VITAL.lst.

The list definition screen consists of several parts:

• The name and definition fields• The Preview button to test the list• Tabs for different aspects of the list

The Name field contains the name of the list. This name is used to identify the list. Similar to a typical Raintree code, itcan contain numbers and letters, but unlike a code, you can also use spaces. Also, the name length is not limited.

The Title field contains the list description. It is only used in the EMR Lists table.

The Preview button is located in the top right corner of the screen. Clicking this will open a preview of the defined list,where you can verify that all column widths and filters behave as expected. Note that this preview will always showrecords for all patients, even if the list is indexed by patient.

Below the Name and Title fields are several tabs. By default, the Interactive List tab is selected. Each tab (except theList Setup, which is used to customize how the list behaves on adding and editing) contains the settings for listindex, the columns to display and filters to determine which EMR records are displayed.

ADD EMR LIST

This is a basic overview of how to add an EMR list:

1. Press A to Add.2. Enter a name for the list. The name may contain only letters, numbers and spaces.3. Enter the list's description.4. Select an index for the list.5. Define the list columns.6. Define the list filters.7. Repeat for other tabs if needed.8. Edit the List setup.9. Press F10 to save.

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EMR LIST INDEX

OVERVIEW

The Index refers to how the system will select matching EMR records, and knowing which index to use requires knowingwhat you want your list to do. Using the wrong type of index can make displaying the list very slow.

Following are examples of some common lists. Each of these would probably use a different index.

• All documents in the EXAM category for a single patient• Open records for a particular provider• Records assigned to the current user for signoff• Prescription records on a certain date• "Detail" records linked to a "header" record through a custom index

INDEX TYPES

The following index types are available:

• Patient is the default option. This should be used if the list will show only one person's data at a time (for exampleall VITAL records for a specific patient).

• Encounter Date is used when you need to show records based on a date (for example all prescription recordsfor today) and not limit them for a specific provider or patient.

• Owner is useful for viewing entries owned by a single user, but for all patients and dates (for example report ona specific user's activity). Note that the fewer different users who are the owners of EMR records in your database,the less helpful this type of index will be.

• Provider / Doctor index is used for finding entries linked to a single doctor code, across all patients and dates,for example for provider-centric dashboard screens. If the list is also going to be filtered by date and there are onlya few providers in the database, using the Encounter Date index may be just as fast, or faster.

• Location is used for finding entries linked to a single location code, across all patients and dates, for example forlocation-centric dashboard screens. If the list is also going to be filtered by date and there are only a few locationsin your database, the Encounter Date index may be just as fast, or faster.

• Program is used for finding entries linked to a single program code, across all patients and dates. If the list is alsogoing to be filtered by date and there are only a few programs in your database, the Encounter Date Index maybe just as fast, or faster.

• Template is used for finding entries using one particular template, across all patients and dates. This index isuseful for record types that are added once per patient.

• Category is used for finding entries that have templates linked to a single category code, across all patients anddates. In almost every case, it is probably better to use any other index than the Category index.

• Signed is useful for viewing entries that have been signed off.

ORDER AND LIMIT

Below the index type selection are two additional options that control the record ordering and limit.

The Reverse order checkbox allows you to reverse the sorting order. For example, if you set the index to EncounterDate, the oldest records are shown at the top of the list and the newest records at the bottom. But if you select thisoption, the order is reversed - newest items are at the top and oldest at the bottom.

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The Limit field controls how many items are displayed in the list. By default it is set to "all", meaning that all items aredisplayed. You can specify a number here to limit the list to that number of items (for example to get the last 10 records,specify the index type as Encounter Date and limit the list to 10 items).

EMR LIST COLUMNS

OVERVIEW

The columns define what data is displayed in your EMR List. You can customize the columns for each list tab.

To add a column:

1. Press A or right-click and select Add. The Select Type menu opens.2. Select the variable type.3. Define the variable(s). Each variable type is described in detail below.4. Press F10 to save the column.

The column width is set up automatically to fit the column title and the field values.

To rearrange the column order, use the Move Up and Move Down buttons next to the list box. You can delete a columnby selecting a column and pressing D or right-clicking and selecting Delete.

EDITING COLUMNS

After you have defined a column, you may want to edit it (change the column alignment or width, edit the column title,etc. For example, the default column width for patient numbers is 11, but if you know you will never use patient numberswith more than 8 digits, you may want to decrease the column list to 8.) To do that, select the column in the list andpress E or right-click and select Edit from the menu that opens. The following screen is displayed:

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You can edit the following options:

• Caption is the title of the column in the EMR list.• Width is the number of characters that will show up in the list without needing to re-size the columns.• Starting position is used for ignoring characters at the start of a field you are including in the listing. This is set

to 1 by default, meaning that no characters are ignored. For example, you have a field containing TYPE1 Type1 Authorization (the code and description from a table) and you want to ignore the code. In this case youneed to change the starting position to 7, so that it would ignore the "TYPE1 " part.

• Alignment specifies whether the data in the column is aligned left or right.• Sorting controls how the data in the column is sorted. This allows you to override the sort order specified for the

index.• Data source determines the source for the data in this column.

When done, press F10 to save.

VARIABLES

There are three types of variables available:

• EMR Variables - built-in variables that are available for every EMR record• Form Variables - fields from a custom screen• Custom Variables - custom variables that need to be defined manually

The selection/definition workflow is different for each one of them.

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EMR VARIABLES

This option allows you to use a built-in variable as the EMR List column source. These variables (sometimes also called"control fields') are used for tracking the details of an EMR document, such as the patient or when the document wascreated. Not all of the fields are visible in the built-in EMR record.

When you select this option, the list of all available EMR variables is displayed.

Select the variables you want to include as columns by highlighting them and pressing Enter. The selected variableshave a blue background. When done, press F10 to add all selected variables as list columns with their widths setautomatically. Note that the variable names are set as column captions.

The following table lists the variables and their descriptions. Note that here are listed only the fields available whendefining EMR list columns.

All dates are MM-DD-YY. All times are in the 12 hour am/pm format.

Field Formscript Variable Description

Owner EMROWNER User ID of the user to whom the EMR document is "assigned"

Owner Name EMROWNERNAME Name of the user to whom the EMR is "assigned"

Date EMRDATE Date when the EMR record was created

Time EMRTIME Time when the EMR record was created (12 hour am/pm format)

Patient EMRPN Patient ID of the patient attached to the EMR record. It is not possibleto save an EMR without a patient ID.

Patient Name EMRPATNAME The first and last name of the patient attached to the EMR record.

Provider EMRDOC The provider code for the service or event documented by the EMRrecord.

Provider Name EMRDOCNAME The provider name.

Location EMRLOC The location code for the service or event documented by the EMRrecord.

Location Name EMRLOCNAME The location name.

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Field Formscript Variable Description

Program EMRPROG The program code for the service or event documented by the EMRrecord.

Program Name EMRPROGNAME The program name

Template EMRTEMPL EMR Template used to create the EMR record. While multipletemplates can be incorporated into a single record, only one templateis the "base" EMR template for each record.

Description EMRDESC Description of the EMR record. This defaults to the description of thebase template, but can be changed through formscript.

Category EMRCAT The category code of the base template.

Category Name EMRCATNAME Name of the category.

Close Date EMRCLOSEDATE Date when the EMR record was signed off

Close Time EMRCLOSETIME Time when the EMR record was signed off

Closed By EMRCLOSEDBY User ID of the user who signed off the EMR record

Closed By Name EMRCLOSEDBYNAME Name of the user who signed off the EMR record

Date Created EMRCREATEDATE Date when the EMR record was created

Time Created EMRCREATETIME Time when the EMR record was created

Created By EMRCREATEBY Used ID of the user who created the EMR record

Created By Name EMRCREATEBYNAME Name of the user who created the EMR record

Date Modified EMRMODIFDATE Date when the EMR was last modified

Time Modified EMRMODIFTIME Time when the EMR was last modified

Modified By EMRMODIFBY User ID of the user who last modified the EMR record

Modified By Name EMRMODIFBYNAME Name of the user who last modified the EMR record

End Date EMRENDDATE A special version of EMRDATE. If EMRDATE is 12-31-79,EMRENDDATE is blank; otherwise it is equal to EMRDATE.

Amended EMRAMENDEDINDICATOR Indicates whether the EMR has been amended.

Signed EMRSIGNEDOFFINDICATOR Indicates whether the EMR has been signed off.

Duration (Min) EMRAGEMINUTES Total time between the EMR creation and the sign off in minutes.

Duration (Hrs) EMRAGEHOURS Total time between the EMR creation and the sign off in hours.

Duration (Days) EMRAGEDAYS Time between the EMR creation and the sign off in days.

Duration EMRAGE Time between the EMR creation and the sign off. If the record hasnot been signed off yet, EMR shows the time between EMR creationand current time. Note that by default, the age of the last amendmentis displayed. To view the ages of individual amendments, view theAmendment History.

EMR GUID EMRGUID Unique identifier for the EMR record.

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Field Formscript Variable Description

EMR List GUID EMRLISTGUID Unique identifier for the EMR list.

EMR FORM VARIABLES

This option allows you to use fields from a custom screen as the EMR List column source.

When you select this option, a list of all custom screens is displayed.

Select the screen and press Enter. A list of all fields on the screen is displayed.

Select the fields you want to include as columns by highlighting them and pressing Enter. The selected fields have a bluebackground. When done, press F10 to return to the list of custom screens.

When you have selected all form variables, press F10 in the list of screens. All selected fields are added as list columnswith their widths set automatically. Note that the field names are set as column captions.

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If your custom screen contains any EMR variables, it is recommended to define them directly using the EMRVariables option.

EMR CUSTOM VARIABLES

This option allows you to use a custom variable as the EMR List column source. Because it is not possible to determinethe column type and width automatically, you have to set up the column options yourself.

When you select this option, the Enter Column Parameters screen opens. See the Editing Columns section for adescription of the fields. The key difference between custom variables and built-in EMR or custom form variables lies inthe Data source field, where you can define your custom variable.

You can also use formscript expressions as the data source, for example getdata("PATIENTREC.FIRST", emrpn)returns the first name of the patient specified by the EMR patient number. Remember to adjust the column widthaccording to the data returned by the expression.

EMR LIST FILTERS AND CONDITIONS

OVERVIEW

The Filters and Conditions list has two primary functions:

• limit which records are displayed in the list;• set up color coding for the rows.

Filters apply only to EMR fields (like filtering for the EMR template type or the provider in the EMR), but conditionals canalso filter for custom form fields. Also, while filters simply match values, conditionals can perform other operations aswell. You can also use conditionals for color-coding results.

In the image below, there are three filters and conditions specified:

• Only VITAL templates are included in the list.• Only records created after 01/01/80 are included in the list. Those records are also colored green.• If the value of the Pulse field is over 110, the row is colored red.

You can change the filter order by using the Move Up and Move Down buttons next to the list. Note that you can notmove a conditional above a filter or vice versa - filters, conditionals and row color groups are all ordered independently,i. e. you can change the order of individual filters, but all filters will always be applied before any conditions.

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The index determines how to look for EMR records to include, but the filters determine which records are actuallyincluded. For example, we may want all of the unsigned progress notes (using the PNOTE template) for a particularpatient. Just specifying the Patient index does not limit the results to progress notes, or unsigned ones. We need onefilter for the template type (PNOTE) and another filter for the Open/Signed status (open only).

To add a filter, press A or right-click and select Add in the Filters and Conditionals listbox. The Enter FilterParameters screen opens:

USING CUSTOM VARIABLES

In all conditionals and most filters you can also use custom variables. The variable needs to be enclosed in square brackets.

This is very common in dashboard screens, where you have an EMR list and some fields to filter the displayed list. Forexample, if the screen is named DASH and it contains three fields: TPL for the template code, FDATE for the range startdate and TDATE for the range end date, you can set up three filters:

• Filter type: Template, value: [&DASH:TPL]• Filter type: FromDate, value: [&DASH:FDATE]• Filter type: ToDate, value: [&DASH:TDATE]

Now, if values in those fields are changed, the EMR List having those filters will be refreshed to contain only records thatmatch the specified values. Note that you need to set the refresh properties of those fields correctly. For more information,see Using an EMR List in a Screen.

FILTER TYPES

The following filter types are available:

• FromDate and ToDate are used to specify a date range. This only applies to the emrdate variable. There areseveral ways to specify a value for these filter.

First, you can use a literal date in the format MM-DD-YY (for example 10-31-07). This is not very common, as thelist will always show records from that date.

You can also set a filter based on the current date by using the keyword TODAY. For example, for records datedtoday, you would just type TODAY. If you want records for the last 30 days, you can use TODAY-30.

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And you can also use a custom variable. This would be very common in lists that are embedded in a screen. Forexample, if you have a dashboard screen named DASH that has a "starting date" field named STARTDT, you canenter [&DASH:STARTDT] as the filter value to use the value from that field.

• FromTime and ToTime provide stricter limits for the date range, allowing you to specify a time as well. Usingthese is similar to the FromDate/ToDate filters.

• Patient is used to show only records for a specific patient. If your list is using the Patient index, you do not needthe Patient filter.

You can specify a patient number as the value, but unless it is a special account (anonymous clients, retail sales,etc.) filtering the list for a specific patient number is not useful. More commonly, the patient number is specifiedin a field and then used as a variable (similar to FromDate and ToDate). For example, a provider's dashboard mayhave a patient number field (named PATIENT) to view records related to a specific patient. In that case you canuse [&DASH:PATIENT] to set the filter to the value of that field.

• Owner restricts the list to records owned by a particular user. The value is often specified as [USERID], limitingthe records to ones owned by the user who is currently logged in. Naturally you can also enter a specific user IDas the value here.

It is also possible to use the Owner filter with a custom variable. An example would be filtering the records on adashboard screen for a user that you supervise.

• Provider/Doctor filter limits the list to records linked to a specific provider code. Like other filter, you can alsouse either a literal value or a custom variable here (for example to see the records for a supervised provider).

• Location restricts the list to records with a specific location code. You can enter a location code (for example ifyou have a specific walk-in facility or crisis center, you can create a list to view records for that specific location)or use a custom variable.

• Program restricts the list to records with a matching program code. As with the other filters, you can use eithera specific program code (for example to view all records related to HIV services) or a custom variable.

• Template is used to show only one type of templates in the list. This is a very common filter. If your list needs toshow only one type of records, specify the template code here. Naturally, you can also use a custom variable here.

• Category limits the list to templates in the specified category. Note that the category is determined at the timethe EMR record is created; if you change a template's category, any existing EMR records for that template willstill be under the original category.

• Open/Signed filter is used if you want to include only unsigned records, or only signed records, but not both.Note that this filter cannot be set with a custom variable.

• Amendments controls whether to show only the first amendment (the original version of the EMR), the lastamendment or all amendments. By default, the last amendment is shown.

• Non-Duplicate limits the list to unique records. The value you enter here indicates what value must be unique.

CONDITIONALS

Conditionals are more flexible than filters. Instead of simple matching, you can use different operators for comparing thevariables and values. Also, conditionals are nto limited to built-in EMR variables - you can define a conditional for a fieldon the screen.

There are three conditionals available. They differ only in the way they are combined with the previous conditionals:

• AND Expression requires that the record matches both this and the previously defined conditional. For example,you might want to see records that have a high pulse rate AND a high blood pressure.

• OR Expression requires that the record matches either this or the previously defined conditional. For example,you might want to see only records with an abnormal pulse rate (either too high or too low). In that case, youshould define two conditionals - pulse greater than 110 OR pulse below 60.

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• Change Row Color only affects the row color. Note that you can also change row colors with the otherconditionals.

The row colors have to be defined in the correct order, because the first matching condition for row color is appliedto the record. This also applies to the colors defined with AND/OR conditionals.

Note that you can also use the conditionals to exclude specific records from the list. For example, you want to see allrecords except those with the provider code "ANON". In that case you should define an AND conditional - emrdoc does

not equal ANON.

The AND conditionals are grouped together, so that a record has to match every condition in the group. OR conditionalsseparate groups, so that you can have (Condition1 AND Condition2) OR (Condition3 AND Condition4). Note that thecondition order is very important. For example, if you change the order of the last two conditions, the conditions become(Condition1 AND Condition2 AND Condition4) OR Condition3.

To add a conditional, press A in the Filters and Conditionals list and select the appropriate type. Additional fields appearon the screen:

1. Select the variable. This will be checked to see if it meets some condition. The dropdown contains allcolumns you have defined and the special Select... option that lets you define a field that is not in your columnlist.

For example, you might want to exclude records for a specific program, but do not want to display the programcode in the EMR list. Since the Program filter does not support excluding, you need to define a conditional withthe program code as the variable.

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Selecting the Select... option will display the same menu that is used when defining columns, containingoptions for EMR variables, form variables and custom variables. Select the variable the same way as you wouldwhen defining a column. Note that here you can only select one variable.

2. Select the operator. This describes how the variable is compared to the value. The following operators areavailable:

• Equals (=) - true if the variable is the same as the value• Does not equal (<>) - true if the variable is not the same as the value• Greater than (>) - true if the variable is greater than the value• Less than (<) - true if the variable is less than the value• Greater or equal than (>=) - true if the variable is greater than or equal to the value• Less or equal than (<=) - true if the variable is less than or equal to the value• Contains - true if the variable contains the value• Does not contain - true if the variable does not contain the value• Contained in - true if the value contains the variable• Not contained in - true if the value does not contain the variable• Starts with - true if the variable starts with the value• Does not start with - true if the variable does not start with the value

3. Enter the value. This can be a literal value like "MED50", a system variable or a custom variable enclosed insquare brackets, just like in a filter.

4. The Skip if [variable] return nothing option applies only if the value is defined as a custom variable. If thevalue returns nothing (for example, if the EMR does not contain that field), the condition is skipped.

5. Select the comparison type. Raintree attempts to determine it automatically based on the variable you selected,but you need to verify the selection. An invalid comparison type may result in false matches, so you need toensure that the correct type is selected.

The table below describes the results when using different comparison types. Bold results are the preferredcomparison type. Incorrect results are formatted in italic.

Example String Numeric Date

01-01-08 = 01-01-08 True True True

01-01-08 <> 01-01-08 False False False

01-01-08 > 12-31-07 False False True

01-01-08 <= 12-31-07 True True False

1 = 1 True True True

1 <> 1 False False False

1 < 5 True True True

1 > 5 False False False

10 <= 5 True False True

10 >= 5 False True False

APPLE < PEAR True False False

APPLE Starts with "A" True True True

APPLE Starts with "a" True True True

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Example String Numeric Date

APPLE Contains PEAR False False False

APPLE Contains "P" True True True

APPLE Is contained in PEAR False False False

APPLE Is not contained in PEAR True True True

6. (Optional) Select a row color. To do that, click the Select Row Color button. The Select color screen openswith the available text and background color combinations. Select the desired color and press Enter. Theselected color is now displayed below the Select Row Color button.

7. Press F10 to save the conditional.

EMR LIST TABS

When editing EMR Lists, in addition to "Interactive list" there are several tabs on the screen that allow you to customizethe list behavior. Note that you do not have to edit any of those tabs - by default, the EMR list is printed or included inthe EMR document just the way it is set up on the "Interactive list" tab.

There are five tabs available:

• Interactive list - the "base" list definition.• Printing - customizes the list appearance when printed.• RTF Table - customizes the list appearance when included in an EMR narrative using the <rtftable> tag.• Graph - allows to display the list as a graph.• List setup - controls how the interactive list behaves on adding and editing.

The first four tabs all have the same sections for the list index, columns and filters. In addition to that the Printing,RTF Table and Graph tabs have an additional button called Copy from list. Click this button to copy all settings (index,columns and filters) from the Interactive list tab to the currently selected tab.

INTERACTIVE LIST TAB

This tab contains the "base" list definition. The records included in this list can be embedded in a screen, linked to a menuoption or listed in a dropdown field.

If nothing has been defined in the Printing and RTF Table tabs, this definition is used instead of them.

PRINTING TAB

This tab defines what will be printed, when the user presses P in the interactive list.

Note that you can use the Copy from list button to copy the setup from the interactive list. This way you can just editthe list and do not have to redefine all columns and filters again.

RTF TABLE TAB

This tab defines how a table of records is included in an EMR narrative. RTF tables can be inserted into EMR narratives(.NAR files) using the <rtftable> tag. For example if you have a list called VITAL, you can include it as a table by

entering <rtftable:VITAL.lst> in the document. See Using an EMR List in a Narrative for details.

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Note that you can use the Copy from list button to copy the setup from the interactive list. This way you can just editthe list and do not have to redefine all columns and filters again.

At the bottom of the tab is another field: Display this text if list returns nothing. This helps to set up a better narrative- if the list is empty, you can use this field to display a line of text instead. For example, if you have set up an EMR listto display the patient's previous visits, you can enter in this field "No previous visits."

GRAPH TAB

You can also set the list up to be displayed as a graph, for example to monitor changes in a patient's blood pressureduring successive visits. Note that this tab has an additional section for defining how the graph will look.

You can use three styles for the graphs - Line (the default), Pie and Column. Each style has a different set of options.The graph can then be displayed on the screen or merged into a narrative. Tip: if you need to display several graphsbased on the same EMR, define new EMR lists for each graph and pull the data from the custom record of the originalEMR.

For example, we would like to define a graph based on vital signs that displays the patient's blood pressure changes. Thisis the graph setup:

The only filter used is for the VITAL template.

To show the graph on a screen, open the screen, create a list box and set the following properties:

• In EMRList, enter the name of the list that contains the graph, for example BP.lst.• Select the Show As Graph option to display it as a graph; otherwise, it would be displayed as a regular list.

This is how the result will look:

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When you right-click the graph, you can either select Detail to view the list data for the graph or To Window to displaythe graph in a separate window. In that window you can also copy the graph and paste it in Excel for example.

You can also use the graph in a narrative. The syntax is: <graph:list.lst;width;height>, for example

<graph:bp.lst;300;200>.

LIST SETUP

On this tab, you can edit how the EMR List behaves on adding and editing.

Add Section

This section controls what happens when the user selects Add when viewing an EMR list.

If there is only one template defined in the On add, run these templates list, that template opens automatically.Otherwise, if there are multiple templates available, a menu is displayed where the user can select a template. The MenuTitle field specifies the title of that menu.

The next listbox displays all templates that can be added when viewing the EMR list. By default, the template list is empty,so adding to the EMR list is disabled (because there are no templated defined).

You can add templates to the list by entering a template code in the Template field. The text field to the right of thetemplate code is used as the menu option text. It will populate with the description of the template, but you can overridethis to something else like "Add Vital Signs" or "New Record". Press Enter to add the template to the list.

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You can add as many different template options as you want. To reorder them, use the Move Up and Move Downbuttons to the right of the template list. To edit or delete them, click on the template and press E or D respectively.

Edit Section

This section controls what happens when the user selects Edit when viewing an EMR list.

There are two sections, corresponding to the EMR Edit and EMR View menu. To disable an option, clear the respectivecheckbox. You can also customize the descriptions for menu items by editing the text field next to the checkbox.

Note that if only one item is checked (as in the above image), the menu is skipped and that option is executedautomatically.

USING EMR LISTS

There are several ways to use the EMR Lists. You can:

• display the list on a screen• use the list in a field• link the list to a menu item• merge the list into a narrative

Each option is described in detail in the respective guide.

USING AN EMR LIST IN A SCREEN

Once you've created your list definition, you may want to add that list into a screen. This screen could be a dashboardor other custom screen, or it can even be a screen used by an EMR template. To do that:

1. Open the screen.2. From the Insert menu, select List Box.3. Adjust the list box position by dragging it with the mouse. You can also resize it by dragging the edges of the

list box.4. While the list box is selected, the Properties pane on the left should display List Box Widget at the top. Find the

EMRList property and enter the list name (from the EMR Lists table).

In this example, the list VITAL is linked to the list box.5. To allow users to add, edit or delete records, you need to set up the Supported Ops property. Select the

options that you want to allow by checking the respective boxes.

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6. (Optional) To display the list as a graph by default, select the Show As Graph property. Note that uses can stilltoggle between the graph and normal view by using the right-click menu, if Graph is selected under SupportedOps.

7. Press F10 to save the screen.

Using a Field to Filter the List

In this example, we want to add a date field to the screen and use this as the From Date filter. The screen is namedVTEST and the list we want to show on that screen is named VITAL.

1. Open the VTEST screen.2. From the Insert menu, select Field.3. Drag the field to the desired position on the screen.4. Edit the Name property and enter fdate as the name.

5. Edit the Mask property and enter nn-nn-nn as the mask.

6. Click on the list box to select it.7. Select the Refresh On Change property.8. Change the Refresh Style property to rsOnEnter.9. Press F10 to save the screen.10. Open the VITAL list in the EMR Lists table.11. Add a new AND conditional. Specify emrdate as the variable, Greater than as the operator and

[&vtest:fdate] as the value. Then, select the Skip if [variable] returns nothing option and change thecomparison type to Date.

This condition means "Only include the record if the EMR was created after the date in that field. Ignore thiscondition if the field is empty.

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12. Press F10 to save the condition.13. Press F10 to save the EMR list.

USING AN EMR LIST IN A FIELD

You can also make the EMR list columns available for selection in a field. To do that:

1. Open the screen.2. From the Insert menu, select Field.3. Adjust the field position by dragging it with the mouse. You can also resize it by dragging the right edge of the

field.4. While the field is selected, the Properties pane on the left should display Field Widget at the top. To link the list

to that field, edit the Mask property. The value must be in the format &LST{LIST NAME}:{COLUMNS FROMTHE LIST TO INCLUDE}:{WIDTH OF FIELD}.

In this example, the first two columns from the VITAL list are displayed and the field width is set to 14.5. Press F10 to save the screen.

Now the screen has a field linked to the VITAL list. When the user presses Tab in that field, the VITAL list is displayed.When the user selects a record from the list (by pressing Enter), the field will display the values of the first two columns.

USING AN EMR LIST FROM A MENU

Linking an EMR List to a menu allows you to create a simple way to access a list of records, such as records for a certaindoctor or location. For example, you may have defined a list of active crisis alerts for all patients, and rather thanembedding that list in a screen, you want to link it to a menu option directly from the Reports menu.

1. (Optional) Edit the menu to add a new menu item. Note that you need DEBUG U security rights.2. Navigate to the menu and press Tab on the option you want to use for the EMR list.3. Type the name of your list, followed by .LST in the first field.

In this example, the CRISIS list is linked to the menu.4. Press F10 to save.

USING AN EMR LIST IN A NARRATIVE

You can also include an EMR list in a narrative. The list will be displayed as a rich text table.

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To do that, edit the narrative and include the <rtftable> tag in the format <rtftable:{listname}.lst>. For

example, to include the VITAL list, enter <rtftable:vital.lst>.

The <rtftable> can also take four additional parameters in addition to the list name:

• hideempty will hide any empty rows.• fontsize determines the default font size for the table.• font determines the font for the table.• shading:off will remove the shading from table headers. By default, the table headers have a gray shade as

the background, which may cause the headers to disappear when faxing.

For example, <rtftable:VITAL.lst,"hideempty","8","Times New Roman","shading:off"> will create a

table in 8pt Times New Roman.

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TEMPLATE EDITOR

NOTES

The notes property allows you to specify text that can be inserted into EMR templates for a field depending on its value.The advantage of this approach is that your EMR templates do not have to contain many @if/@endif statements for textthat should change depending on the value of a field.

To edit the notes for a widget:

1. Select or add a new widget.2. Double-click the Notes property. You can also click the button with the ellipsis ().3. For checkboxes and radio buttons an additional window appears, allowing you to specify where the labels for

the elements are located.

4. The Notes window opens with the current element selected.5. Specify notes to appear corresponding to different values of the element.

In this example, different notes are specified for the values of a radio button group. Also, a special note is added for thecase when no option is selected.

INCLUDING THE VALUE IN THE NOTE

You can use the variable %val% in an item's note. Thus, an example similar to that shown above could have been:

Radio <> "" then "Client's eyes are %val%."Radio = "" then "Client's eye color unknown."

You can also compare the value of a field in the notes to insert a note that is context-sensitive, such as a field (in thisexample TEMP) that recorded a client's temperature. The notes for that field might include:

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temp > 100 then "High body temperature at %val%."temp < 97 then "Low body temperature at %val%."temp ((temp > 97) and (temp < 100)) then "Normal body temperature at %val%."

NOTE COLLECTIONS

OVERVIEW

Collections allow you to logically group independent fields together, define how the group contents should be displayed,add some text before or after the group, define the order of the group items, etc.

For example, you might want to display a list of symptoms and start the list with "The symptoms include". The symptomsare defined as checkboxes. If you use only regular notes, you have to reference the notes for each checkbox separatelyand separate the symptoms by commas. But if some of the symptoms do not appear, the list in the EMR will have severalcommas following eachother. Adding the commas in the notes is also not an option, since each symptom might be thelast one in the list and therefore does not need a comma. Also, if none of the symptoms appear, you will be left with asentence "The symptoms include ." One way to solve this would be using multiple conditionals to control the prefix textand commas. The other, much easier way is to define a note collection, defining the list type as AND and specifying "Thesymptoms include" as the prefix.

To access collections:

1. In the Template Editor - select Templates from the menu bar, then select Note Collections.2. The Note Collections window opens.

DEFINING COLLECTIONS

The upper part of the window allows you to define and delete collections. On the left, the collections are displayed. Tocreate a new collection, click the New button and type the collection name in the Name field. The collection name isused to identify the collection.

Style: specifies the final written note format. There are seven styles available:

1. OR - item1, item2 or item32. AND - item1, item2 and item33. Bullets -

• item1• item2• item3

4. Number List -

1. item12. item23. item3

5. Alpha List -

a. item1b. item2c. item3

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6. Names - this special option prints the names of all collection elements in the same order as they are in the"Selected Items" pane. This option is for programming purposes.

7. Normal List -

item1item2item3

In case of number or alpha lists, you can optionally specify the first element. For example, if you want to start thenumbering with 3, type 3 in the First Element field. For alpha lists, this field also controls whether the characters areuppercase or lowercase (the default is lowercase).

Hint: if you define the collection as any type of list, add a line break at the end of the prefix. Otherwise, the first list itemwill follow the prefix on the same line.

On the right the Prefix and Suffix fields allow you to define text to be added before and after the collection. Click the fieldto open the RTF editor. This allows you to insert fields into the prefix and suffix. Note that if the prefix or suffix is ina different font than the rest of your narrative, it will override the narrative font.

COLLECTION ITEMS

The lower part of the window allows you to define the items in the selected collection. The Available Items pane containsall items on the screen that can be added into a collection. You can check the Sorted checkbox to sort the items inalphabetical order; however, this is generally undesired as you might want to keep the collection items in the same orderas they appear on the screen.

In the Selected Items pane, the items in the currently selected collection are displayed. You can move individual itemsup and down by using the respective buttons on the right. This allows you to define the order in which the items appearon the screen.

You can add or remove items from the Selected Items pane with the buttons in the middle - single arrows ('>' and '<')apply to the currently highlighted items, double arrows ('>>' and '<<') add or remove all items.

NARRATIVES

Narratives are the text documents that accompany EMR records. The narratives usually contain special tags to mergeinformation from the EMR record into the document. However, since narratives can also contain rich text, you also useall formatting tools in the RTF Editor - customize fonts, alignment, etc. This allows you to quickly set up clean-lookingprofessional documents that contain all necessary information from your EMR records.

Narratives are stored as .NAR files in the docpath.

There are two ways to edit a narrative:

• From the EMR Templates table by selecting the Edit template text option.• In the Template Editor when editing the custom screen linked to an EMR template.

Both options have their advantages. When you open the narrative from the EMR Templates table, it opens in the RTFEditor. This allows you to use all formatting tools to work on the layout. In Template Editor the formatting options arevery limited, but you can easily insert tags that correspond to fields on the input screen.

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In order to edit an EMR template's narrative from within the Template Editor, you must first associate the screen and thenarrative. To do this:

1. In Template Editor, open the EMR menu.2. Select Associated NARs.3. Enter the code of the EMR Template. You can enter multiple codes, but each must go on a separate line.

Once a NAR file is associated with your screen, you can display an editor for that screen by selecting Editor or Editorand Insert Mode from the EMR menu. See the Using the Narrative Editor skill guide for an example.

USING THE NARRATIVE EDITOR

In this example, we want to make a new EMR template narrative (VITAL) that includes a linked input screen (the VITALscreen) and prints out some data that is entered on the VITAL screen. First, we add our template definition to the list ofEMR templates for the database:

Next, we will use the Template Editor to edit the linked screen. First we need on add a narrative to the EMR. To do that:

1. Open the EMR menu and select Associated NARs.2. In the box that opens, enter the name of the template to which you want to add a narrative, in this case

VITAL.3. Click OK to save.

Now that there is a narrative associated with the screen, you can display an editor which will allow you to edit the narrativedirectly from the Template Editor.

1. Open the EMR menu and select Editor and Insert Mode.2. A new pane appears on the right. In that pane you can directly edit any narratives associated with the screen.

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3. Generally it is easier to edit the narrative when the editor is aligned to the bottom of the screen instead of tothe right. To align the editor to the bottom, open the EMR menu and select Align Editor to Bottom.

Above the editor is a menu bar with basic formatting options (bold, italic, underline, etc.) In the NAR field, select thenarrative you want to edit, in this case VITAL. Once you have selected the NAR file, the editor will display the currentcontents of the narrative.

SET UP THE NARRATIVE TEXT

For any text that you want to print out exactly the same way for all EMR documents using the template, add the textdirectly to the narrative just by typing it in.

Note: you can press Ctrl+E to open the narrative in the RTF editor and add any advanced formatting (change the fonttype or text alignment, add a bulleted list, etc.)

This is not very helpful yet, since it does not contain any info from the screen. The image below shows all locations wherewe want to display text from the VITAL screen marked with ***.

In addition to fields from the VITAL screen, we want to display some data from the EMR record. In the image below, thelocations where we want to display some data from the EMR record are marked with XXX.

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INSERT THE FIELD VALUES

To insert any fields from your custom screen, make sure your cursor is positioned in the correct place in the narrative,then click on the field you want to insert with your mouse. In this example we want to insert two fields for height (feetand inches) into the narrative.

1. The narrative currently looks like this:

2. The fields on the screen look like this:

3. Make sure the cursor is in the right position in the narrative (before the "'" character) and click on the firstHeight field. The narrative changes:

The tag <&VITAL:feet> was inserted in the cursor location. This tag tells the EMR system to merge in the

value in the FEET field of the VITAL screen when the EMR record is saved.4. Repeat this for the second Height field. The narrative changes like this:

Repeat the process to add the other fields into the narrative. The end result should look like this:

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INSERT THE MERGE VARIABLES

Next, we will manually replace the XXX's with the built-in merge variables that should be there. The patient number forany EMR record can always be inserted with the <EMRPN> tag, and the patient first and last names are stored in the<FIRST> and <LAST> tags. The patient's DOB and age use the <DOB> and <AGE> tags, respectively. The date andtime of an EMR record can be inserted into any narrative using the <EMRDATE> and <EMRTIME> tags.

When you have inserted these tags, the narrative should look like this:

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ADVANCED

EMR TEMPLATE COMMANDS

OVERVIEW

In addition to all standard merge tags and commands, there are special commands and tags that can be useful whencreating EMR templates. The tables below contain the special commands, along with some more commonly used standardmerge commands.

COMMANDS

Command Description

@if@elseif@endif

These commands can be used for conditional text inside the template. You can only use simpleexpressions here. Also, each statement must appear on a separate line. Note that if you want to includesome text only if a variable is not empty, you should use @block instead. Example:

@if <&vital:pulse> > 100High pulse rate@elseif <&vital:pulse> < 60Low pulse rate@endif

@block@elseblock@endblock

These commands are used to display data if a data tag (like <DOB>) is not empty. This is useful forconditionally inserting whole paragraphs or sections.

@blockThe patient's birthday is <DOB>@endblock

In this example, if the patient's birthday is empty, the text between the @block/@endblock tags willnot be displayed.

@tableblock@endtableblock

These commands are used with RTF tables. If a table is placed between these commands, the resultwill be the same as placing each row between @block/@endblock commands, meaning that emptyrows are not included in the table.

@tableblock<rtftable:VITAL.lst>@endtableblock

If a row in the VITAL list is empty (meaning there are blank values in all displayed columns), thatrow will not be displayed in the table.

forceblock If this tag is inside a @block, the contents of the block will always be merged.

view Indicates that merged text should be sent to a popup window rather than the main EMR document.

emrpopup This allows you to customize the subsequent EMR popup window (displayed with <view>) to open.<emrpopup:title:caption> sets the title for the popup.<emrpopup:scroll:bottom> scrolls the content of the popup window to the bottom.

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Command Description

EMRPrintImage This puts an image marker inside the EMR narrative. When the EMR is printed, the images referencedby this marker are printed as the last pages of the document. The syntax is<EMRPrintImage:"&screenname:imagefield">This way, the images do not interrupt the rest of the document.

etab This command is similar to <shortcut>. It creates a tab that will run the template indicated by thetemplate code when the tab is clicked. The syntax is <etab:templatecode:caption> Forexample, <etab:VITAL:Vital Signs> creates a tab "Vital Signs". When you click this tab, theVITAL template is run.

filtercategory Limits the folders visible in the Templates pane in the EMR editor. You can use<filtercategory:*> to display all categories or <filtercategory:folderlist> to displayonly templates from the specified categories. For example <filtercategory:BH,ASMT> willdisplay only templates in the BH or ASMT categories.

include Inserts the text in the specified file. Syntax: <include:filename>

notext Indicates that the EMR Template does not have a narrative.

section This command is used to create sections within the EMR tempalte. Each section must be closed withan <endsection> tag. Sections cannot be nested within a document.

The syntax is <section:[*]categorycode:description[:folderfilter]>, for example<section:*MY:My Caseload>

• The categorycode specifies the code for the section. If you enter an asterisk before thecategory code, a tab is created at the top of the document. You can click the tab to move tecursor to the start of that section.

• The description is used as the section title (and if you created a tab, as the tab title).• The folderfilter part is optional. This allows you to associate specific EMR template categories

with the section. it acts like <filtercategory> within the section.

shortcut This command creates a clickable shortcut button on the right side of the EMR editor. When clicked,it runs the specified template.

The syntax is <shortcut:[*]template:caption>, for example <shortcut:VITAL:VitalSigns>. If you add an asterisk before the template code, the shortcut is run automatically when the

template is run.

INSERTING CUSTOM SCREEN FIELDS

These commands describe how to insert data from the custom screen attached to your template. Note that you can alsouse the narrative editor in the Template Editor - that way you can insert the tags automatically, without having toworry about the correct syntax or field names.

In all commands below, screenname refers to the screen containing the field.

<&screenname:fieldname>

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Inserts the value of the field with the given name into the document. Example: <&SAMPL:PRES> inserts the PRES field

from the SAMPL screen.

<&screenname:fieldname:note>

Inserts the note for the field with the given name into the document. This requires defining the Notes property in theTemplate Editor. Example: <&SAMPL:PRES:NOTE>

<&screenname:rtfwidget:content>

Inserts the contents of an RTF Memo field with the name specified by RTFWIDGET into the document. Example:<&CHNOT:TXGOAL:CONTENT>

<&screenname:fieldname:image:width:heigth>

Inserts an image from the specified field into the document.

<&screenname:buttonname:drawing:width:heigth>

Inserts a drawable button into the template.

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NOTES

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